Monthly Archives: November 2012

November 29, 2012- Several confounding questions surround yet another alarming situation at a private school owned by a man whose financial track record can only be described as wanting at best. The Prep Academy is now the fourth school owned by Hendrik Lamprecht to fall into deep trouble, though its exact status remains hazy.

Prep's former principal, Theresa Kern, exposed the dire situation in a detailed article by Herald education reporter Katy Bergen last week. Incredibly, Kern often had to produce copies of textbook pages because classrooms lacked books.

Yet parents paid a $250 book fee, never saw textbooks in classroom, and their children never came home with any.

Kern and other teachers did not receive paychecks for months — just like employees at other Lamprecht schools.

In the latest lawsuit against Lamprecht, the property owner of the building that housed The Prep Academy is seeking more than $57,000 in back rent and damages. Lamprecht has not paid rent since March, the civil action states, and the building owner wants the school evicted.

By itself, the headline is not terribly gripping. It's the context that makes it interesting.

First of all, the net worth of each Koch brother is roughly equivalent to the stock portfolios of several million of your neighbors. So when Charles and David are disappointed, it's the same thing as saying Miami and Fort Lauderdale are peeved.

Beyond that, the Kochs are the omnipresent gurus of Scott's particular brand of conservatism. Think Mr. Miyagi in the Karate Kid, minus the car wax.

So when Scott breaks rank with Americans For Prosperity — the Koch-funded propaganda machine of the obscenely rich — it is not an insignificant matter.

And what was Scott's horribly disappointing misdeed?

He suggested he might be willing to work with the federal government when it comes to implementing the Affordable Care Act in the coming months.

November 20, 2012- In primary and general elections in 2012 and recall elections in 2011 and 2012, a total of 117 members and alumni of the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) were voted out of office, according to research and analysis by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD), ColorOfChange, and others.

November 9, 2012- Conservatives are peeved at New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, a GOP favorite, for praising President Barack Obama response to Hurricane Sandy days before the election. Some right-wingers even blame Christie for boosting the president's prospects at the last minute. (Christie hugged Obama! How could he?!) Now, in the aftermath of the election, a powerhouse conservative outfit partly funded by the billionaire Koch Brothers is coming after Christie on another front, sharply questioning whether the governor will sell out conservatives in the latest battle over Obamacare.